Fighting A Traffic Ticket: 3 Ways To Get Off On A Technicality

Being pulled over and issued a traffic ticket for speeding is sure to put a damper on anybody's day. However, just because you got a ticket doesn't mean you can't fight it. In fact, you have a right to fight any moving violation in court. However, if you want to have a chance at winning, you'll need to have a strong case (or hope that the officer doesn't show up). Specifically, you'll want to pull out that ticket and take a close look at it, as there may be mistakes on it that could save you from having to pay.

Incorrect Vehicle or License Information

First, check to ensure that the officer wrote down all of your information correctly. Some common places where officers make mistakes include the vehicle information (make and model, license plate number, etc.) and driver's license information. Specifically, take a look at the driver's license number that the officer wrote down and ensure it's 100% correct. If not, then you may have a strong case for having your ticket dismissed in court.

Missing Information Altogether

If you take a look at your traffic ticket, you'll see that there are many fields of information that the officer had to fill out. Sometimes, when an officer is in the process of writing a ticket (especially one that isn't computerized and needs to filled out by hand), he or she may become distracted by another call and will accidentally skip over certain fields. As a result, the court may not have sufficient information to say with 100% certainty that a crime took place and your fine could be dismissed.

Listing of the Wrong Traffic Violation Code

All moving violations have a specific traffic code that must be entered by the police officer writing the ticket. This code will let the court know the exact infraction that took place. However, it is not unheard of for officers to write down the wrong violation codes, so be sure to do some research (you can find traffic code handbooks online) and see whether or not yours is correct. If it's not, then you'll have a stronger case to fight your ticket in court. This is an especially common mistakes among officers who rely on writing down traffic codes by memory.

As you can see, there are quite a few ways in which you could get out of your speeding ticket, so be sure to review these before you go to court.